US6285797B1
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US
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Method and apparatus for estimating digital video quality without using a reference video
Assignee: ASEV DISPLAY LABS
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Filing: 2000-04-05
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Granted: 2001-09-04
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Expires: 2020-04-05
Abstract
Abstract A method and apparatus for performing image quality assessment that does not require the use or availability of a reference image. The apparatus comprises a vision pre-processor, a virtual reference generator, a virtual distortion generator, and a image quality metric generator. The vision preprocessor performs a vision-like transformation upon an input image sequence to produce a vision energy map. The virtual reference generator operates upon the vision energy map to produce a virtual reference while the virtual distortion generator produces distortion estimates that are used by the virtual reference generator to produce the virtual reference. The virtual distortion and virtual reference are used by the image quality metric generator to produce a image quality metric for the input video sequence without the use of a reference video sequence.
Inventors
- 👤 Jeffrey Lubin
- 👤 Michael Henry Brill
- 👤 Albert P. Pica
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-09 12:00
CPC Classifications
H; H04; H04N; H04N17/00; H04N17/004
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 22
Claim 1
Independent Claim
53 words
Apparatus for estimating human subjective assessment of picture quality of an image comprising: a single ended image quality monitoring system, wherein said single ended image quality monitoring system comprises: a vision pre-processor; a virtual reference generator coupled to the vision pre-processor; and a image quality metric generator coupled to said virtual reference generator.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
53 words
Apparatus for estimating human subjective assessment of picture quality of an image comprising: a single ended image quality monitoring system, wherein said single ended image quality monitoring system comprises: a vision pre-processor; a virtual reference generator coupled to the vision pre-processor; and a image quality metric generator coupled to said virtual reference generator.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
22 words
The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said vision pre-processor performs a vision-like transformation upon the image to produce a vision energy map.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
23 words
The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said virtual reference generator comprises: a signal estimation processor; a signal classifier; and a signal weight normalizer.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
11 words
The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising a virtual distortion generator.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
22 words
The apparatus of claim 4 wherein said distortion generator comprises: a distortion estimation processor; a distortion classifier; and a distortion weight normalizer.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
19 words
The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said image quality metric generator further comprises a local-area just noticeable difference model.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
32 words
The apparatus of claim 6 wherein said local area, just noticeable differences model uses local area statistics of signal and noise accumulated across multiple pixels and multiple frames of the video sequence.
Claim 9
Independent Claim
44 words
A method of estimating image quality of a image sequence comprising: pre-processing said image sequence using a vision-like transformation to produce a vision energy map; generating a virtual reference from said vision energy map; and producing a image quality metric from said virtual reference.
Claim 10
Independent Claim
44 words
A method of estimating image quality of a image sequence comprising: pre-processing said image sequence using a vision-like transformation to produce a vision energy map; generating a virtual reference from said vision energy map; and producing a image quality metric from said virtual reference.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
21 words
The method of claim 8 wherein said virtual reference generating step further comprises: signal estimation; signal classification; and signal weight normalization.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
11 words
The method of claim 8 further comprising generating a virtual distortion.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
19 words
The method of claim 10 wherein said distortion generating step comprises: distortion estimation; distortion classification; and distortion weight normalization.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
21 words
The method of claim 8 wherein said image quality metric generating step further comprises performing a local-area just noticeable difference computation.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
32 words
The method of claim 12 wherein said local area, just noticeable differences computation uses local area statistics of signal and noise accumulated across multiple pixels and multiple frames of the video sequence.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
56 words
A computer readable medium comprising software that, when executed by a computer causes a image quality assessment system to perform a method comprising: pre-processing said image sequence using a vision-like transformation to produce a vision energy map; generating a virtual reference from said vision energy map; and producing a image quality metric from said virtual reference.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
56 words
A computer readable medium comprising software that, when executed by a computer causes a image quality assessment system to perform a method comprising: pre-processing said image sequence using a vision-like transformation to produce a vision energy map; generating a virtual reference from said vision energy map; and producing a image quality metric from said virtual reference.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
21 words
The method of claim 14 wherein said virtual reference generating step further comprises: signal estimation; signal classification; and signal weight normalization.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
11 words
The method of claim 14 further comprising generating a virtual distortion.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
19 words
The method of claim 16 wherein said distortion generating step comprises: distortion estimation; distortion classification; and distortion weight normalization.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
21 words
The method of claim 14 wherein said image quality metric generating step further comprises performing a local-area just noticeable difference computation.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
32 words
The method of claim 18 wherein said local area, just noticeable differences computation uses local area statistics of signal and noise accumulated across multiple pixels and multiple frames of the video sequence.
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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 2004-09-03 | 2005-03-05 | 2005-09-04 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2008-09-03 | 2009-03-05 | 2009-09-04 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2012-09-03 | 2013-03-05 | 2013-09-04 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |